As NAFTA talks between the U.S. and Canada wound down yesterday afternoon, both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland were stressing cooperation. Neither directly commented on President Trump’s off the record comments to Bloomberg News that he would not compromise with Canada.
After leaving discussions with U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer on Friday afternoon, Freeland told reporters: “We’re continuing to work very hard and we’re making progress, but we’re not there yet. This is a very complex agreement and we’re going to continue working at it.” (RELATED: Trudeau Remains ‘Positive’ As Trump Says No Compromise With Canada)
There has been a virtual news blackout since, as the Trudeau government looks at its increasingly limited options for next week.
On Saturday, Trump continued to blast Canada.
I love Canada, but they’ve taken advantage of our Country for many years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2018
He even suggested that Canada could just go home without a deal and that would make no difference to the U.S.
There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. If we don’t make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out. Congress should not interfere w/ these negotiations or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely & we will be far better off…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2018
The opposition Conservatives, after days of hostile tweets hammering Trudeau for allowing Canada to be sidelined as the U.S. and Mexico wound up a deal, have softened their criticism.
Late Thursday night, Foreign Affairs critic Erin O’Toole released the following statement:
After spending three months on the sidelines, Canada is now back at the negotiating table trying to make up for lost time. However, it is becoming clear that Mexico and the United States have reached major agreements that impact millions of Canadian jobs. Canadians are rightly concerned that our government was not at the table while these decisions were being made.
O’Toole added they “would be willing to assist the government at this critical time.”
But Quebec Member of Parliament Maxime Bernier, who left the Conservatives last week and plans to form another right-of-center political party, tweeted condemnation not only for the Trudeau government but the opposition as well:
One reason for this mess is that the Official Opposition has not been playing its role of criticizing the lib gov’s flawed strategy. You’ve been siding with Trudeau since the beginning instead of putting pressure on him to change it. You too are responsible. https://t.co/x20aF4sDBf
— Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) August 31, 2018